The Heart of the Matter
by SharonH
Summary: A jewel goes missing, an archeologist is murdered, and Daniel's friend Sarah thinks a Goa'uld might be behind it all.
1. Default Chapter

Looking through the skylight, one could see the pedestal that sat  
directly beneath. The pedestal itself was an estimated four feet tall, made  
of gleaming oak, upon it sat a dark blue velvet cushion, and upon the  
cushion sat a stunning blood red ruby the size of a tennis ball. Three  
lights, all at different angles, shone down on the jewel, catching its many  
facets. The jewel was encased in a box of glass, so clean that it was barely  
seen. One single wire unfurled from the skylight, to just a foot above the  
case. A small black figure slid down the wire, with barely a whisper of  
sound. Balancing at the end of the wire, wisps of smoke made the infrared  
sensors appear. The apparition waited, counting to twenty five, as a small  
electronic device flashed twice, and the sensors disappeared. Quickly, the  
figure lifted the glass, palmed the ruby, and replaced it by a stone the  
same size and appearance. The glass case was put back, and within seconds  
the sensors were back. Pressing a button on its belt, the figure slid  
smoothly back to the skylight, and to the roof. The figure made its get-way  
into the night.  
  
Daniel headed to the briefing room of the SGC a little frazzled. He had  
been running late all morning. He had also spilled coffee all over his  
shirt, while it was still hot, and had smacked his forehead into a corner  
cabinet on his way to the infirmary for the burns. Now he was all patched  
up, and in a foul mood. When he got to the room, he found that Sam, Teal'c,  
and Jack were already there waiting for him. He mumbled an apology, and sat  
down quickly. Daniel looked up to find them all staring at him. "What!" he  
snapped.  
  
Jack looked at the others, then back to Daniel, "This briefing is all  
your doing Daniel, remember?"  
  
"Right, sorry, bad morning." Daniel sighed and stood up going to the  
projections at the head of the table. "We're looking at going to Ps3-546.  
All of the MALP readings came back as habitable, good atmosphere, extremely  
livable. Also," he continued flipping to the next photograph, "as you can  
see in the background, there seem to be some ruins back here. They don't  
look of Goa'uld design, but neither do they look Asgard, or Ancient. I think  
that if we can ascertain that there aren't hostiles, it deserves a closer  
look."  
  
SG-1 looked at General O'Neill for several seconds before he figured it  
out, "Oh right, ok then, sounds good to me."  
  
They were packing up to go when Sam approached him. "Hey Daniel did you  
hear about the theft of that ruby in London?"  
  
"No, what happened?"  
  
"Some ruby called the Heart of the Earth , it was on display at The  
British Museum, then it was going to be on display in New York. The curator  
noticed something different about the stone as it was being packed up, found  
that it was a phony."  
  
"That's odd. That museum has some of the best security. That's where  
Sarah went to work at."  
Daniel thought about it as he headed to his lab. He should probably call  
Sarah to make sure everything was going ok.  
  
"Hello Daniel," Sarah had answered the phone on the first ring , "I'm so  
glad you called."  
  
"Everything ok there? We read about the gem going missing."  
  
"It's gone mad around here. First the jewel, then last night Sir William  
Montgomery, one of the archeologists on staff here, was shot by something  
that burned him to death." Sarah's voice got quieter, "Daniel it looked like  
a staff blast to his chest!"  
  
"A staff blast!" Daniel shouted in surprise.  
  
"I know, that should be impossible, but Daniel, I know what it looked  
like. And there's more, the area where the gem was found had familiar  
writing on it Daniel, very familiar. I had just gotten permission to call  
you in. He had been making noises that the ruby was more than just a gem, it  
went missing, then he's killed. It's too much coincidence."  
  
"You send through that request to contact us here. I'll talk to Jack  
about coming there."  
  
"His funeral's in three days." Sarah sighed, "I hope you get here soon  
Daniel."  
  
Kestrel Montgomery looked at the faces surrounding her father's casket.  
Most were faces swallowed in grief, her father had been well loved. She saw  
all of the staff from the museum there, including the new girl Sarah  
something or other. There were several new faces standing beside her. Kes  
looked at them with interest. A tall, muscular black man; a tall, but not as  
tall, wiry older man in uniform, with graying spiky hair; a fairly tall  
woman, in uniform, with short blonde hair, quite pretty actually; and a tall  
man with light brown-dark blonde hair, wire framed glasses, good build, from  
what she could see, and good facial features.  
  
She sighed and focused back on the casket. Kestrel had loved her father very  
much, she would miss him terribly. She had already vowed to find out what  
had happened, and who had killed him. He had been a good man, with many good  
years ahead of him. She didn't bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks,  
there was no use when they weren't close to stopping.  
  
Daniel stood close to Sarah. She was upset about the man's death, they  
had become friends since she had moved back to London. He was glad that  
SG-1, including Jack were able to come with him. He didn't know how the  
older man had arranged that, but it worked for him so he wouldn't question  
it. He recognized some of the people standing around the gravesite, just  
from articles they had in different magazines. There were quite a few high  
profile people.  
  
There was a petite woman standing on the other side of the grave from them.  
Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, he couldn't really make out her  
features, due to the black veil that fell from a hat over her face. Daniel  
could feel her looking at them. Her body was draped in a stylish, and  
expensive black dress, flaring over full breasts and cinched into a tiny  
waist. It flowed over curving hips, and down to just below her knees. Her  
legs were encased in sheer black hose which ended in black high heels.  
Everything about the woman was screaming money and taste. Daniel found  
himself wondering what she was wearing under the dress, and chastised  
himself. 'You're at a funeral you insensitive jerk. Get your mind out of the  
gutter!'  
  
The funeral ended with Kes dropping her rose on top of her father's  
coffin. She pressed her arm and face onto the coffins' smooth black surface,  
"I will avenge you Da." she whispered tearfully. Standing straight up she  
headed for the limousine that would take her back to the estate for the  
gathering that was being held after.  
  
They pulled into the estate where Sir William had lived, and a valet  
parked the vehicle. They were entering into the marbled arch, looking around  
in astonishment. "Holy Hannah!" Jack exclaimed. "Nobody touch anything. It  
looks too expensive to pay for. Is this some sort of museum." he looked at  
Sarah and Daniel suspiciously.  
  
Sarah looked at Jack with some amusement, "You're almost right Jack,  
most of these items are museum quality, but this is Sir's Williams private  
collection. Some of it is his daughter Kestrel's, she is also an  
archeologist. Although, I suppose now, all of it goes to Kestrel."  
  
"Jack." Daniel called from where he had been looking at some tablets in  
a glass case, "Could you come over here please?" There was something about  
his voice that drew Jack's attention, and he hurried over to look.  
  
"Daniel, is that what I think it is?"  
  
Daniel was about to answer, when a voice spoke from behind the group. It  
was soft, with a slight British accent, "Do you recognize the writing on  
those tablets?"  
  
They turned to see the small woman from the funeral gliding down the  
stairs towards them. She was still in the black dress, but the veiled hat  
was gone, leaving a lovely face focused on them. Dark green eyes surrounded  
by thick lashes, a pert nose, and a full cupids bow mouth. Freckles  
spattered her face, which was framed by curling auburn hair that stopped at  
her shoulders. She finished her descent, and walked to the tablets. "My  
father spent years trying to decipher it. I think he finally gave up when he  
put them on display here. Do you recognize it?" She tilted her head and  
looked up at Jack at Daniel. She had changed from the heels into flat shoes,  
which put her at about 5'2".  
  
"Maybe, I'm not quite sure." Daniel answered looking at Jack.  
  
The girl turned and walked away from them. "How ironic, the opportunity  
to possibly translate something so precious to him, only coming after his  
death." She stopped next to Sarah. "How are you Sarah? I'm so glad you could  
come today."  
  
"Thank you, Kestrel, I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you don't mind  
that I brought some friends with me." Sarah said after kissing the girl's  
cheek.  
  
"Not at all. I appreciate anyone who came to pay respects to my father."  
She turned to the group and introduced herself. "I'm Kestrel Montgomery.  
You're Americans?"  
  
"Yes Ma'am, I'm Lt. Col Samantha Carter, my colleagues are General Jack  
O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c." Sam said shaking the girl's hand.  
  
Kes looked at Teal'c with interest. "It's rare I meet someone with only  
one name." After shaking Sam's, Teal'c's and Jack's hands, she turned to  
Daniel. "Dr. Daniel Jackson, I've heard a lot about you. My father was quite  
interested in your work. He was quite a fan." She took his hand and frowned  
slightly and the slight tingle that ran through them. Kes let go of his hand  
and stepped back. "Please, follow me, everyone is gathering in the parlor."  
She turned and began to walk away. The others followed.  
  
They were on their way back to their hotel that afternoon when Daniel  
started thinking about the tablet again. "I would really love to get a  
closer look at that tablet. Teal'c, did you get to look at it?"  
  
"Very briefly, Daniel Jackson. I do believe that it was an ancient  
dialect of Goa'uld. It has been many years since I have seen anything like  
it. In the time I had, I was unable to ascertain any more information than  
this."  
  
"I'm surprised you got that much." Jack muttered. He was exhausted, he  
figured the time difference was catching up to him.  
  
"Sarah, do you think she'd let us take a closer look?" Sam asked, as she  
started to rub Jack's neck with one hand.  
  
"Perhaps. I could ask. She'll probably want to know why though."  
  
"I think I'll have our people run a check on her before we go any  
farther. If she does come up clean, well, Daniel you need to be working on  
something to tell her so she'll let us look at her stuff."  
  
"Sarah, you were saying that there was a ruby stolen just days before  
Sir William was killed. Did he have anything to do with the ruby?"  
  
"Actually yes," she answered, "Sir William is the man who uncovered it.  
He and Kestrel found it in a tomb found two years ago. The dig was  
completed, and the artifacts were brought back recently, When the ruby was  
originally found, it was enclosed in some type of metal box, which didn't  
seem to open. Somehow, Kestrel managed to open it. Tests are still being run  
on the box. There were three Canopic jars, all broken, filled with ash. We  
sent some of the ash off to be analyzed as well. What does all of this mean  
Daniel?"  
  
"Honestly Sarah, I have no idea."  
  



	2. Secrets

**Disclaimer: I own none of Stargate, or it's characters. I do own Kestrel. **

Kes awoke to a full day ahead of her. She had to speak with her fathers'   
barristers this morning, and get his will resolved, then this afternoon she   
had arranged with Sarah Gardner to escort the Americans through her fathers   
artifacts. Kes had already admitted to herself that she had an attraction to   
the young doctor Jackson. Both the spark he had caused when shaking her   
hand, and her eyes being constantly drawn to him. It had been three days   
since the funeral, and she was ready to find out why her father was dead.   
She had a feeling it was because of the ruby. She also knew by comparing the   
writing from the metal container to the tablets her father loved so dearly,   
they were all tied together. Neither she or her father had ever seen any   
language like it. By the way the Americans had been looking at it though...   
she had a feeling they'd seen it before.

Now she just had to determine how she wanted to play this. Dumb bunny, or   
smart archeologist. Whatever means, she needed to find out as much as she   
could. Her packing company was coming in within three days to pack the   
artifacts for her move.

The taxi which took them to the Montgomery Estate pulled in just seconds   
behind Kestrel. Daniel found he was eager to see her. He found it   
disturbing, that this slip of a girl could command his thoughts like this.   
She stepped out of her BMW Series 6 convertible, handing the keys over to a   
man who had come running from the garage area, she thanked him and made her   
way over to SG-1. "Hello, come on in. Sarah isn't with you today?" she asked   
as she turned and headed for the door.

The others looked to Daniel to answer, "Um, no, Sarah had some stuff she   
had to get done at the museum today."

"Well, that's too bad then, but at least you all could still come." The   
front door opened before she reached, being held by an older balding man in   
a black suit. "Thank you Simmons. I suppose I could just start showing you.   
Just let me know when you wish to stop, or when you have questions. There's   
quite a bit really." Kestrel led them through several different rooms   
showing them a myriad of artifacts. They were fascinated by all the   
knowledge that the girl knew, and the different stories she could tell about   
each item.

Daniel was practically salivating at all of the different pieces of history.   
"Besides the tablets at the front of the house, which we can take out later,   
I do have something that I think you'll find fascinating." She took out a   
key and unlocked the door of the room they had come to be standing in front   
of. They entered the room, which besides a metal lab table, some scientific   
instruments, and a high stool was empty. Kes walked over to a metal door   
with a key and palm pad next to it. She punched in a code, and laid her palm   
against it. There was a tone and the door swung open. She reached inside,   
pulled out a square object, about the size of a shoe box, and put it on the   
metal table. The square was a burnished gold, with Goa'uld markings covering   
it. The box looked solid. Jack realized they were collectively holding their   
breath. "Isn't it lovely?" she asked them.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Well, it was the vessel which held the Heart. Are you familiar with the   
Heart?" she was looking at Daniel.

"Vaguely. There was a story that said that in their final days Nut and   
Geb laid together to sleep their final sleep. Nut was married to Ra, but   
loved Geb. This angered Ra. Nut was the mother of Osiris and Seth." Daniel   
took a breath to continue and saw the look Jack was giving him. "Supposedly,   
Geb had a device, no one really knows what it was supposed to do, it was   
just called the Body of the Earth, the ruby was called the Heart of Earth,   
and whoever had the Heart could use the Body. Ra took the Body, but could   
never find the Heart." He moved around the table to have a better vantage   
point to look at the box.

"So, now the Heart is missing, and no one knows where the Body is?" Sam   
clarified.

"How did you know this opens?" Daniel asked, looking at the box it   
looked seamless.

"It didn't feel solid, I figured that it had to be a container of sorts.   
It took me hours," she confided, "finally I realized that since the markings   
are so similar to the tablets father had, I compared, and started to work   
out the code." She ran her hands along the box, it appeared random to   
everyone else, but the box shifted and the lid slid outward.

"That's amazing." Daniel was impressed with the container. The inside   
was heavily cushioned. "Teal'c, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"I must admit, I have not Daniel Jackson. It looks very old indeed."

Kestrel eyed the group, who were absorbed in the vessel. "I know you've   
seen these symbols before. Will you tell me where or what they mean?"

The group looked at Jack. Most of her security check had come back,   
however they were still waiting on some final information. He didn't know   
what was taking so long, but hoped it came back soon. Jack nodded slightly   
at Daniel. Kestrel followed all of this, processing the information that she   
was learning just by watching them. Daniel turned to her, "We have seen   
these before. We're working on translating them, much as you have been. We   
aren't at liberty to tell you more, it's a highly classified military   
operation. I'm sorry."

Kes stared at them for several minutes. "I understand, and I don't hold   
it against you. I'll just keep working with the information that I've been   
gathering."

"Sarah said that the lab was running tests on the box and the ashes   
contained in some Canopic jars?" Sam asked, a little relieved by the girl's   
easy acceptance, and intrigued because she felt the usual twinge from being   
near naquadah. She was pretty sure the box contained that mineral.

"Actually, yes. My father and I own a private lab. When testing the box   
it came up with a mineral not known of on Earth. Also, when we ran the   
ashes, it contained human dna as well as an unknown source of dna, again not   
seen on Earth. Quite the find actually." The four Americans had gotten   
quiet. Kestrel's cell phone rang, so she excused herself to the corner to   
take the call.

"Jack, I really think we should see if she'd let us take the box and   
ashes back to study. This could be an incredible find. Who knows if Geb's   
Body does exist, and what it does?"

"Do you think she would be willing to do that Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, probably not if we aren't willing to share with her."   
Daniel whispered, "I don't think this will be along the lines of Alec   
Colson, but she did legally discover the find along with any information   
that it entails."

"Why do we not ask, and at least find out how willing Kestrel Montgomery   
would be to share?" Teal'c intoned quietly. The four looked at each other   
one last time, and turned to face Kes who was finishing up her phone call.

"No, I can't be concerned with that right now, James. I am not   
interested in filing a claim against the theft of the gem. As far as I'm   
concerned, it shouldn't even have been out for everyone to see." They looked   
at each other over this comment, "James, do what you will, but I will not be   
signing any documents stating anything about the Heart." Kes flipped her   
phone shut and looked at the four. "Well, who's ready for a bit to eat?"

Kestrel put the box away in the vault, and locked the door behind her.   
They headed down to the dining room, where a cook was setting out food.   
"Thank you Rosie love." she said giving the cook a quick hug.

"Get on with ya now." the older woman grinned, "You make sure you eat   
everything up today. I won't be having you waste away to nothin'."

The group sat at the table and started eating the delicious food that   
she had left for them. "Miss Montgomery.." Daniel began only to cut off by a   
wave.

"Please, do call me Kes."

Daniel flushed slightly at the smile directed towards him, "Kes, do you   
think, or would it be possible for you to loan or rent the findings, such as   
the box, ashes and jars, to us? That way we could take it back with us and   
do some research?"

"It's funny you should ask that Dr. Jackson. Actually, you're the second   
group who've come to me to make such a request. The first group was   
Americans as well. Although I must admit, I'm more impressed by the fact   
that you showed up in person."

"Who was the first group...if you don't mind my asking?" Jack asked.

"A Mr. Al Johnson. He said he was part of a government organization in   
the States called the NID. I told him I would have to get back to him. I   
couldn't get any confirmation to prove he was who he said he was, so when he   
called back, I declined." Kes looked at the group again, "The ruby went   
missing the very next night. I must admit, at first I thought you were part   
of this NID as well."

"What makes you think we aren't?" Daniel asked.

"You've already told me you were military, you haven't tried to pocket   
anything since entering my home, and I know that Sarah Gardner, before   
coming back to London had some dealings with the US Military." At Jack's   
shocked look, Kes laughed delightedly, "Don't look so shocked General, even   
some archeologists have resources."

Sam looked worried, "Kes, what exactly did the NID want to borrow from   
you?"

"They wanted the ruby, the box it was contained in, the Canopic jars,   
and the ashes, oh yes, and my fathers tablets that he had found years   
earlier."

"This is bad Jack."

"I know Daniel."

"That could explain a lot of different things."

"I know Daniel." Jack stressed.

"Is everything alright?" the redhead asked, taking a sip of her tea. She   
seemed quite calm. Looking at them all, the next words out of her mouth   
silenced them, "You think these men had something to do with my fathers   
death? and the ruby being missing?"


End file.
